Retired pro wrestler, Hulk Hogan has attained numerous achievements in his career, cementing himself as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. However, he seemed to have bluffed a bit when it came to facing off WWE heavyweight champion, Brock Lesner.
The two-time WWE Hall of Famer stated a blatant lie to fellowmate, Joe Rogan about confronting the Beast Incarnate after his return to WWE. For those who don’t know, the latter returned to WWE in 2012 where he confronted John Cena first at WWE Extreme Rules 2012.
Hulk Hogan Lied to Joe Rogan About His Match With Brock Lesner
Hulk Hogan made an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience last year where he talked about his wrestling career and his face-off with Brock Lesnar. For the unversed, the Beast Incarnate went through an intense competition in the UFC from 2008 to 2011. From there on, he made his WWE comeback in 2012. Recalling his return, Hogan claimed that he was the first one who faced off against Lesner however, it was far from the truth. John Cena was the one who confronted him first at WWE Extreme Rules 2012.
He told the host, Joe Rogan,
“I got him first when he came back from the UFC. I was kind of winding down, putting guys over and doing my thing and Vince goes, ‘I want you to work with Brock.’ I went, ‘Okay.’ I knew his buddy, Brad Rheingans, who was from Minnesota.”
He continued sharing he had eyes on him while he was in high school.
“He was the coach of the Olympic team several years back, and so when Brock was in high school, we had heard of him, we kept an eye on him.”
He added,
“When he came back from UFC, they gave him to me first, and he was really intense, brother. He was really intense. So my whole thing is we always grabbed somebody and squeezed him to give him the office. ‘You’ve got my head, you’re about to break my neck,’ you give him the office to lighten up. I squeezed the piss out of him and gave him the office. Finally, I just started calling him Broccoli.”
He continued to share that he told Lesner to loosen up.
“I told him, ‘Broccoli’, I got him to laugh a little bit. I said, ‘Let me tell you something. If you keep hurting me in here, if you don’t loosen up on the old man here, I’m gonna make you look really, really bad because you can be in here by yourself.’ I used to tease him all the time because he’s a really good friend, you know?”
Hogan would have seemingly gotten confused about their face-off as they had only faced each other at the 2002 Slamdown where Lesner was given the knockout victory. While Hogan might remember the timeline quite wrong, he has also acknowledged Lesner’s efforts.
Hulk Hogan Has High Regard for Brock Lesner!
Despite their conflict, the veteran complimented Lesner for his efforts in the wrestling world as he implied how he changed over the years.
In the same podcast, he shared,
“When I got him first, he was really, really intense and now he’s like, he’s turned out to be one of the best workers this business has ever seen. I mean, brother, he draws money. He backpedals. He sells. He’s got instinct. He’s got placement. He knows where he’s at. He listens. You don’t have to tell him what to do.”
He has nothing but good words for his fellowmate who can vibe with the crowd which is a rare art that Lesner possesses.
You don’t have to have a writer write the match out. He goes out and listens to the crowd with his mind and his heart. It’s something that’s a lost art form. He’s got it, man. He figured it out.”
Not just the 2002 Smackdown, The Beast Incarnate had a confrontation with The Immortal during his 61st birthday in 2014 which turned a stop on the celebrations. Nevertheless, the veteran had acknowledged the Beast’s efforts and his art of winning hearts in the ring.
